If passed into law, the bill would “ensure that public institutions of higher education are safe spaces free of immigration enforcement activities with access to services and support for all students, faculty, and staff regardless of their immigration status.”

Specifically, the legislation mandates that faculty members of “California’s colleges and universities” must “immediately notify the campus chancellor or president if he or she suspects, or becomes aware that, [ICE], or other public or law enforcement entities working in coordination with federal ICE, are expected to enter, will enter, or have entered, the campus.”

In such a scenario, the bill would also require faculty and staff to “immediately notify any and all students who may or could be subject to an immigration enforcement order or inquiry in a discreet and confidential manner that ICE is suspected to have entered, may enter, or has entered the campus.”

Meanwhile, the legislation mandates that public institutions “assign a staff person, or multiple staff persons” to “serve as a point of contact” for any student, faculty, or staff member subjected to an immigration order, while also maintaining a “contact list of known attorneys” who “provide pro bono legal immigration representation, and provide it free of charge to any and all students who request it.”

In the event that the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program were to be cancelled at any point, the legislation would force universities to ensure that “students to whom the DACA policy was applicable may continue to receive financial aid, fellowship stipends, exemption from nonresident tuition fees, funding for research or other educational projects, or other benefits they have been awarded or received.”

The bill, set to head to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, has the full support of the California Faculty Association (CFA), the union representing all faculty members within the California State University System.

“As faculty committed to our students’ success, we’re determined not to let Trump rip their dreams away,” CFA President Jennifer Eagan exclaimed at an April 3 rally in support of the bill. “Governor Brown said Trump had better not mess with California; well the faculty of CSU are saying ‘you better not mess with our students, because we are going to get in your way.’”

Anthony Gockowski

Contributing Editor/Investigative Reporter

Anthony Gockowski is the Contributing Editor and an Investigative Reporter for Campus Reform. He previously worked for The Daily Caller, Intercollegiate Review, The Catholic Spirit, and The College Fix. In 2015, he was named a fellow for the Student Free Press Association. His reporting is regularly featured on Drudge Report, Fox News, National Review, and more.

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